1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to multifunctional computer systems, and more particularly, to a computer system that executes functions of a cordless telephone base unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer systems have traditionally comprised a system unit or housing which comprises a plurality of electrical components comprising the computer system. A computer system typically includes a motherboard, which is configured to hold the microprocessor and the system memory, and one or more buses used in the computer system. The motherboard typically comprises a plurality of slots to accommodate various peripheral device controller cards, such as a sound card, a graphics card, a communication port controller card, etc. Through the motherboard slots, these controller cards are typically coupled to a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus to facilitate data communications with the microprocessor and the system memory.
More recently, computer systems are evolving toward an integration of functions. Some modem computer systems are capable of performing a variety of advanced communication and signal processing functions, such as voice recognition, interactive data transmission and reception, telephone call routing, telephone communication using the Internet, etc. Internet telephony using a personal computer typically involves a sound card installed on the computer motherboard. The Internet telephony software configures the sound card to function as a telephone handset through its microphone and speaker jacks. The sound card is connected to a telephone line and the user is provided a telephone handset that is connected to the sound card through its microphone and speaker jacks.
A telephone communication may be either in a full-duplex mode, as in the conventional circuit-switched (i.e., traditional) telephone communication, or in a half-duplex mode, as is typically the case with the Internet telephone communication. In the full-duplex operation, the talking and listening can take place at the same time during the telephone communication. In the half-duplex mode, only one function, either talking or listening, may be performed at a given instance to have an intelligible telephone conversation. As the Internet is a packet-switched network, there is a strong possibility of out-of-sequence or delayed arrivals of various data packets containing the audio information. Because of the complexities associated with full-duplex operation, majority of packet-switched communications using personal computer sound cards is not truly full-duplex.
During an Internet telephone conversation, the user may want to switch to his/her cordless telephone handset without interrupting the conversation. If the telephone handset is attached to the user""s computer, this may not be convenient. Further, an external coupling device may be needed to connect the computer sound card with the cordless telephone base station because the base station is now not connected to the telephone line. In addition to this, the user may also want to initiate a regular telephone conversation using the traditional circuit-switched telephone networks and with his/her cordless telephone handset. In that case, the external coupling device may need to be configured to accept the RF signals from the cordless telephone base unit and utilize the telephone line connected to the computer sound card to establish the requisite point-to-point telephone connection. In the absence of such an arrangement, the user may need to first connect the cordless telephone base station with the telephone line before initiating the telephone conversation.
Therefore, it is desirable to have a cordless telephone device that can be operative through the computer system and that can function as a cordless telephone base unit with the help of an external antenna that can be attached to the computer unit or housing. It is further desirable to have this cordless telephone device carry out the Internet (packet-switched) telephony as well as the conventional point-to-point (circuit-switched) telephony. Thus, the computer unit will itself function as a cordless telephone base station. This will eliminate the need to have an external cordless telephone base unit or any other coupling devices. The computer system will thus integrate the cordless telephone base unit, and hence, there will be a reduction in device redundancy.
When two or more users operate a common telephone instrument, as in a typical household, it may be desirable to have a telephone instrument, such as a cordless telephone handset, identify the specific user that is using the instrument at a given instance. This is helpful when each user has his/her personal preference that is different from that of the other. For example, one user may want to have a louder telephone speaker volume setting than the other one. It is therefore more convenient if, in addition to identifying the user, the telephone instrument also recognizes individual user preferences and automatically implements those preferences when the corresponding user is operating the instrument. It is noted that the cordless telephone handset that identifies the user and implements the user-specific preferences may also have a computer system as its corresponding cordless telephone base unit.
It is desirable to configure a personal computer to utilize the cordless telephone device to wirelessly transmit and receive data including text and images. A portable digital photo album is desirable to view transmitted photographs or images on an LCD display, but in a manner similar to viewing actual printed photographs through a photo album. Similarly, a portable electronic book will store the transmitted text and allow the user to read each page of the text in a way similar to reading an actual paper version of the text. Hence, a user will have his/her own personal digital image album or an electronic book, and will be able to conveniently store the information he/she deems interesting. The digital image album and the electronic book will also offer flexibility in user movements by allowing portability in information storage and retrieval.
The computer system according to the present invention includes a cordless telephone device operative through the computer system. The cordless telephone device may, for example, include a cordless telephone card installed in one of a plurality of connector slots on the computer system motherboard. The cordless telephone device is coupled to a sound device, which may be a computer sound card and may also be installed on the computer system motherboard. An external cordless telephone handset is coupled to this cordless telephone device to allow a user to carry out a telephone communication over an external telephone line, which is connected to the sound device. The connection of the telephone line to the sound device also facilitates a telephone communication using the Internet.
The cordless telephone device includes an antenna jack to couple an external RF antenna thereto. This external RF antenna may be installed in an antenna port provided on the computer system housing or may be directly connected to the cordless telephone device through the antenna jack. The cordless telephone device further includes a cordless telephone base unit, a microphone output and a speaker input to allow the cordless telephone device to be coupled to the sound device in the computer system.
In one embodiment, the computer system housing includes a built-in cordless telephone base station. Here, the cordless telephone base station, and not the sound device, is connected to the external telephone line. The computer system here functions as a cordless telephone base station for the regular (circuit-switched) cordless telephone communications only.
The present invention also contemplates a cordless telephone handset that identifies the user operating the handset and automatically configures itself to implement one or more preferences specified by that user. The cordless telephone handset unit includes a speaker recognition unit to ascertain an identity of the handset operator. A programming unit is provided to allow a user to input one or more user-specific preferences. The speaker recognition unit identifies the user and sends a corresponding signal to the programming unit, which, in turn, sends another signal to an operation control unit. The operation control unit, in response, configures the handset unit to implement one or more of the user-specific preferences. A display, such as an LCD display, may be provided to facilitate programming and display of user-specific preferences.
The speaker recognition feature may also be implemented in a traditional, non-cordless telephone instrument. In one embodiment, a non-cordless telephone instrument is contemplated to include speaker recognition unit in its housing. This regular telephone instrument also includes the programming unit and the operation control unit to identify the user and implement that user-specific preferences. The speaker recognition units in the regular telephone as well as in the cordless telephone handset operate on a voice print comparison method. Each telephonexe2x80x94the regular one or the cordless telephone handsetxe2x80x94initially stores a voice print of the user. During a subsequent telephone conversation, the speaker recognition unit periodically samples the telephone operator""s voice to ascertain his/her identity. If the operator""s voice print matches the user""s voice print, then the programming unit notifies the operation control unit of that. Thus, more than one user may conveniently operate a common telephone instrument or a cordless telephone handset that is configured to automatically implement the user""s individual preferences.
A digital image or photo album according to the present invention comprises a housing that includes, for example, an LCD display provided on a face of said housing. The LCD display may be electronically partitioned into two LCD pages to create an impression of a pair of pages of a photo album. The housing also includes an input port to receive a storage medium, such as a compact disc (CD) or a floppy disk. Each of these storage media store one or more photographs in a digital format. The digital photo album includes a command input unit that allows a user to input a number of predetermined commands to select and view the photographs or images. The photographs or images to be displayed on the LCD display are first converted from said digital format into a user viewable format. A file viewer unit in the digital image album performs this conversion, whereas a display control unit ultimately displays the photographs or images, one pair at a time, through the LCD display.
A number of keys may be provided in the housing to allow the user to input one or more of the predetermined commands. Alternately, a touch-screen LCD display may be provided in the housing to achieve the same purpose. A transmit port, a receive port or both may be provided in the housing to allow the digital photo album to perform data communication wirelessly. The earlier mentioned computer system with a cordless telephone device may accomplish such a data transfer using the functionality of the built-in cordless telephone base unit.
In another embodiment, the digital photo album comprises two housings mechanically hinged and electrically coupled with each other. Each housing includes one LCD display to display one photograph. Thus, jointly, the two housings display two photographs creating an impression of the actual paper pages of a photo album. The various electronic circuitry is conveniently distributed between the two housings. One, or both, of the housings may include the input port to receive the storage medium as explained earlier. The user operable keys, if provided, may be distributed between the two housings according to the designer""s choice. Instead, a pair of touch-screen LCD displays may be providedxe2x80x94one on each housing.
The electronic book according to the present invention may either include a single housing or a pair of mechanically hinged housings as earlier described with reference to the digital image album. The electronic book allows a user to view a pair of pages at a time through its display, which may be an LCD display. The LCD display may either be a single continuous display or a single display electronically divided into pages in case of a single housing, or may comprise a pair of displays in case of the pair of mechanically hinged housings. The user can read two pages at a timexe2x80x94as in a paper version of a book. The pages may contain text as well as images. The text is stored in one digital format? and the images are stored in a different digital format to allow for compatibility with present compression schemes.
In one embodiment of the electronic book, an RF port is provided to facilitate a wireless data communication with an external electronic device. The external electronic device may include the earlier described computer system with built-in cordless telephone base unit. In that case, the cordless telephone base unit in the computer system will accomplish the necessary RF communication with the electronic book. Similar to the digital photo album, the electronic book may also have a number of keys provided in the single housing, or distributed over a pair of housings, to allow the user to input one or more of the predetermined commands. The predetermined commands may perform operations such as selection of a text, repagination, deletion of a selected text, etc. Alternately, a touch-screen LCD display may be provided in the housing to perform the same operations. An individualized storage and retrieval of text, images and photographs is thus achieved.